Intervention from oneself
by Sunlit-Serenade
Summary: In which The Once-ler realizes he can't chop down trees forever, so he ends up getting some replanted. This however, doesn't make things better. The forest is still getting worse by the day. What can The Lorax do? The only option left could end in disaster or save the forest.
1. Chapter 1

"So, how are things?" The voice was startling, coming from complete silence.  
The large, green coated man turned around in his chair, a look of surprise on his face, quickly turning into disgust.

"What are you doing here?" He spat out, looking fed up already.

"Happy yet? You fill that hole deep inside you? Or do you still want more?"

That was it. Standing up, he towered over the creature. "Look. If you got a problem with me, and what I'm doing, why haven't you used your 'quote unquote' powers to stop me?" Hand motions and all, he glared at the Lorax, seemingly mocking him, getting more and more frustrated as he went on.

The Lorax paused, He was unsure on what to say, though he was quick to get interrupted one more, before a chance to say anything even appeared.

He smirked at the silence, knowing he was correct. "Right, I forgot. You're a fraud. I need you to get out. Now." The Once-ler raised his voice, pointing towards the long, twisted staircase.

"Why? Do I make you uncomfortable? Remind you of the promises you made? The man you used to be?"

"You know what?" He started, glaring down at The Lorax, his eyes seeming to flare with anger. "You can just shut your mustache. My conscience is clear. I have done nothing illegal. I have my rights, and I intend to keep on biggering and biggering, and turning more Truffula trees into Thneeds." He took a deep breath, the man's voice raising and getting more alarming as he went on. Making his way down the stairs, he nearly stepped on and kept pushing the odd animal down and down until they finally reached the end. Acid scept from his voice, almost growling. "And nothing is going to stop me."

"Don't you realize what's happening to you? You've been corrupted by greed." The Lorax cried out, honestly, scared. When of his height was yelling and almost screaming at someone so small, getting closer and closer, spewing venom in his words, it was hard not to be.

"If being 'corrupted by greed' means that I'll be successful and have people finally treat me with respect, then so be it." He straightened his back, now standing upright once again. His eyes meeting the Lorax's with an icy stare. "I'm finally adored, loved. I'm looked upon with high regard now. I'm finally someone."

"Beanpole, you were always someone to us-" The creature started trying to reason with the man, maybe that would make him-

"To 'us'?" He paused. What was he to say? Was that true? Did these animals really care that much about him- No, no no. It didn't matter. They didn't matter now. " To a bunch of forest creatures? Sorry buddy, but I'd rather have respect from my mother rather than respect from some singing fish, birds, bears, and- and whatever you are."

"I'm- You're- Who even are you anymore?" The Lorax looked at him in defeat, it was an honest question. The young boy he had met five years ago seemed so different now.

"I'm" He gave a smirk, bending back down, eyeing the being that dared to confront him "The Once-ler, of course, Now, Leave." He straightened his stature, folding his arms, not bothering to look the other in the eyes.

"Fine. But I'm not giving up this easily."

"Of course you're not. Get out now, or I'm calling security, you're still on my property."

With that, The Lorax left back into the forest. What was there to do? Trees were being re-planted, but the forest was getting worse and worse, it wasn't enough. Brown Bar-ba-loots hardly had enough food to share between them all, Swomee-Swans were starting to loose their feathers, and the humming fish's water turned worse by the hour. He couldn't convince the animals to leave, it was still their home, they were in denial about the condition of the forest. As long as the truffula trees still stood, it was pointless. What could stop The Once-ler, then? There had to be something to make him realize what he was doing was wrong.

There was only one option left.

It was risky. Very, very risky.

But what else was there to do?

This would take up almost all of The Lorax's power, but if it meant saying the forest, it had to be done. 


	2. Chapter 2

Kick.

Suddenly, the young traveler was shot awake. What- Oh! Melvin.

"We're gonna be there soon, I'm sure it's just-" He stopped. Lifting up his hat, his eyes widened, "Whoa.."

What was this place? Beautiful, never ending blue skies, vibrant green grass, clear rivers flowing through the valley, and hundreds- no, thousands of tall, truffula trees, swaying gracefully in the afternoon breeze.

He held his guitar close to his chest, starting to tear up from this wonder of nature.  
"This is the most beautiful place- Okay- I-I, I have ever seen."

Suddenly, three little fish hop up in front of the boy, striking up a pose, and gesturing towards the grand plane behind them. "Taa-daa!" Then, jumping into a nearby pond, they began to hum a tune.

All around, animals played and enjoying everything that this small world of their own, swomee-swans flew across the horizon and bar-ba-loots sat together with their friends and families.

Melvin quickly dragged the cart down into the valley, both of the travelers excited to see what else this place held. Smiling widely, Once-ler hops out of the wagon, strumming his guitar, quickly to start playing a song.

"This is it!"

Two of the bear-like creatures looked at each other in confusion.

"This is the place!"  
"These truffula trees are just what I need."

Hearing the music, many other bar-ba-loots follow the sound, coming upon Once-ler.

"Gonna chop one down, and make myself a Thneed."  
"But first-!"

He didn't realize how careless his was, tossing all of his tools out of the wagon, he was just too distracted.

THWACK

As he stands up, he accidently hits one of the bar-ba-loots with his guitar. Tossing it up into the air, he runs off, singing and dancing through the valley, followed by the curious animals

"Na na, nanana na, na na nanana na" Once-ler sang, looking over to the creatures following him. "Now you!"

The animals began to repeat after him, making him smile "That's great!"

Na na nanana na Nana na nana na na na Bob-shoo-bop Bob-soo-bop

Singing whatever came to his mind, he went to the back of the wagon, pulling out a spatula and singing into it

"So now our friendship can begin~ Hand-and-hand and wing and fin"  
Once-ler goes back into the wagon, and begins unpacking, still dancing to his own song, tossing tools over his head.

"There's nothing you and I can't do, so let's make my dreams come true!"

A saw, shovel, pruning shears, and an axe lay in front of different animals, then a hair trimmer bounces past, a tube of toothpaste lands in front of a Humming fish, then a mellet, causing the toothpaste to explode.

The wagon was unpacked, and the oblivious Once-ler pulls out an axe, continuing to sing to himself and the animals. Instead of joining in the chorus like they did before, the angry mob of animals have all turned against the singing man.

"Hey, guys. Come on! Where's my backup chorus?"

Bar-ba-loots growled, other animals picked up the tools that were tossed.

Feeling threatened by the animals, he quickly turned back, searching for something to protect him. "Ah-ha!"

Wait.  
His giant marshmallows.

As a Bar-ba-loot lunged at him, Once-ler screamed like a girl, holding the sack up like a shield, the bag was ripped and marshmallows flew into the air, raining down onto the animals, quickly distracted them and calming them down as they ate them.

He smiled, watching all of the creatures enjoying the sweet treat. While they weren't' paying attention, he slipped on his work gloved, and grabbed his large axe once more.

"Al right, here we go. About to make a Thneed, about the change the world"

The animals now had all of their attention back on the man, staring at the shiny metal axe, and watch as Once-ler walked over to one of the Truffula trees.

As he raised his axe, the animals grew scared.

The axe cuts into the tree, with a sound that echoes through the whole valley. The tree creaks and moans as it falls, and hits the ground with a loud thud that seemingly shook the ground. The animals reacted in horror, what did he just do?

Meanwhile, Once-ler stares at the tree, impressed.

"Check it out guys..wh- Huh?"

He looks around, noticing all of the creatures were now gone.

"Oh, where'd everybody go?"

He shrugs, then grabbing the tree by the trunk and starts to drag it away towards his small cottage.

The animals investigate the stump, one of the humming-fish begins to pokes at it. Suddenly, the ground starts rumbling and shaking, all of the creatures quickly scatter off, scared at the movement. A loud noise and a flash of light followed a seemingly thunderstorm that shoot out of the stump. All of the animals, now far away, began to watch, confused.

Wind shakes the valley, scaring all of the animals, until it stopped as soon as it appeared.

The Lorax.

He was short, orange, but in charge. Slowly, he stood up, and saw what was below him. The stump of a fallen tree.

"What the wh- Who the- Oh!"

The animals collected rocks, and carefully placed them around the stump, creating a memorial. A smaller Bar-ba-loot saw the orange creature, and offered him a rock to put down. When they are done, they take a moment of silence for the stump. Pipsqueak walks over and takes hold of the Lorax's hand, while another Bar-ba-loot; a much larger one, grabs hold of the Lorax's other hand, starting to cry.

Suddenly, sounds of whistling changed his focus from the tree, to a man. Seeing him ripping tufts from the fallen Truffula tree. Furrowing his brows in anger, he walks over to the man to investigate.

Once-ler hums and sings to himself, plucking and picking each pink, soft tuft off of the tree, shaking them like pom-poms and tossing it into a pile.

"Hey!"

Startled by the sudden voice, the man trips and falls to the ground, eyes wide.

"Did you chop down this tree?"

"What? Uh, no. Who did it?" Acting surprised, he quickly points in the other direction "What's that?!"

The Lorax looks off, wanting to see what the man was freaking out about. Once-ler looked around, dropping the axe onto the small Bar-ba-loot next to him.

"I think he did it." He said, pointing at the animal on the ground. It was obvious the creature wasn't buying it, glaring at Once-ler.

"Leave! Vacate the premises! Take your axe and leave!"

Squinting, Once-ler stood up, poking the fuzzy orange animal in the belly "Who are you?"

"What-what?! I'm- I'm the Lorax!"

No response.

"I'm the guardian of the forest. I. I speak for the trees."

Nothing.

"So you're telling me you just didn't see me magically appear out of that stump? With all of the lightning and thunder and stuff? You didn't see ANY of that?

"No, but that sounds amazing. Can I see some of that?

"Uh..Yeah, I could show you. But that's not how it works.

"Okay, um. Didn't really happen." Once-ler paused, suddenly realizing. "Oh, I know what you want!" He smiled, poking the Lorax's nose. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a marshmallow, holding it out to the creature. "I've got one of these for the cutteeessstt little guy I ever saaww~" He hummed out, baby-talking the 'guardian' of the forest "Yummy yummy yummy"

The Lorax looked at the man, insulted "How dare you! He- Give me that." He grabbed the marshmallow, sniffing it. "Hm..Okay, I'm going to eat this, BUT I am highly offended by it. Popping it into his mouth, he started to talk over to Once-ler's tent-house, kicking out a stake that kept it into the ground.

"Whoa, wha are you- What?! Hey, mustache! Will you stop that?"

The Lorax continued circling around the tent-house, pulling up stakes, Once-ler chased him around, and hammered each one back with his hammer.

"What's your deal, man?"

"Time for you to go, beanpole!"

They circled faster and faster around the house, playing their game of cat and mouse.

"Pull 'em right out and I'm just gonna put 'em right back in. I can do this ALL day!"

One more turn around the corner, Once-ler is about to bring his hammer down once more, until he suddenly stopped, realizing that the Lorax had placed Pipsqueak right where the stake would have been.

"Whoa! Stop right there. You would hammer one of nature's innocent creatures?" Patting the small cub on the head, he happily wandered off.

Once-ler's eyes widened, horrified. "What?! No! I would never hit that little guy. You, on the other hand. I would GLADLY pound you and your mustache into the ground"

The Lorax turns to all of the animals behind them who were watching, obvious trying to give them a show. "Behold the intruder and this violent ways! Shame on you. For shame"

Sighing loudly, Once-ler put his hand on his forehead. "Okay" Looking over at the Lorax, he tried to calm himself down "I need these tufts for my Thneed"

"You're- Excuse me?"

"A. A Thneed- It's my invention. It's going to make me famous! Look- I can make it and show you!"

"Well- You already cut down the tree...Might as well do it then"

"I'll be right back!" Once-ler couldn't help but smile, grabbing the bag of the soft, pink tufts, quickly heading inside of his house. 


	3. Chapter 3

It took awhile, Once-ler wanted to make sure it was perfect. Once he was finished, it was too dark to hunt down the Lorax, so he just decided to show him tomorrow, besides, he needed a good night's rest.  
-

Once-ler woke up to a loud snoring, turning around to see the Lorax next to him, quickly he shot up, yelling, only to get punched in the nose when the orange creature woke up.

"Uh- Ow. ow, that hurt. Um. What are you doing here?"

"Well i wanted to see your little invention but you were sleeping! So me, and the other animals kind of. Crashed here, hope you don't mind. Really, no harm done."

Once-ler looked around his house, seeing the place in a mess. He signed, though, the Lorax was right, really, no harm done. He could just clean it all up once they left.

"It's about time, beanpole. So, let's take a look at your- whatever it was."

"Thneed." He smiled, confident in his product. He held it up for the Lora to see, getting a little nervous when all he did was stare.

"You chopped down one of my trees to make that- that garbage? Just look at that!"

"Garbage? Oh no, oh NO! You do not get it.." "This is the revolutionary product that will change the world as we know it!"

"It has a million uses!" He reaches under the table, putting the thneed on a large Bar-ba-loot "Look at this! It's a swimsuit!"

Quickly pulling it off, he moves to the floor, seeing the paw prints "Mud tracks all over your floor by uninvited guests? Well, the Thneed sure comes in handy for that! He smiled, wiping the tracks.

"But wait, there's more! Thanks to its all-natural micro-fibers, the Thneed is super absorbent!" Shoving the Thneed in glass of water, it instantly soaks up almost all the water, leaving one of the fish a little squished.

"It also works as a hat!" Once-ler said, plopping it onto the Lorax's head. It's still dripping wet, causing him to laugh awkwardly "Of course, you'd probably want to wring it out first, eh-"

"Go ahead, go ahead! Knock yourself out. But nobody is gonna buy that thing" Obviously not impressed, he glared at Once-ler.

"Oh- well, fortunately you're not exactly the target market." He sighed slightly, grabbing his guitar and strumming it.

"You're bringing a guitar?" The Lorax questioned.

"Oh, yeah! I got a little jingle that's gonna blow some minds, gonna sell some thneeds! Yeah.. I'm off! I'll show you, I'll sell one for sure!" He smiled, holding up the Thneed with confidence.

"Well, if you say so. Break a leg, kid." 


	4. Chapter 4

The Lorax watched as the tall man left his house, off to sell his little thneed. He groaned, getting up and leaving the house as well, taking the animals with him, letting them wander around and live their life how they would normally.

After everyone was safe, the Lorax went off on his own, visiting the stump of the fallen tree. Suddenly the sky turned dark, winds blew harshly, and he blacked out.

The Lorax opened his eyes, only to see that he was- in front of a mirror? Rubbing his eyes, he tried to recover from the unexpected fainting.

Soon he heard a voice come from the reflection, quickly realizing this was no mirror. "Good. You're up. Listen, that beanpole is bad news. He's going to become corrupt." Fear seemed to fill the other's eyes as he spoke.

"What? That can't be true, he seemed understanding." The Lorax was taken back, what did he mean, 'bad news', what could have become of him?

"Anyone can change when greed takes over. Listen to me. This might be risky, but if it's the only thing we can do to save the forest. We must."

"What are you implying?"

"Taking this Once-ler to see what he has become. Maybe the only thing that can stop him is himself."

He paused. This had to be bad. "Is that the only option we have?"

"I'm afraid so."

"What is it even like over there- How can. How could he have done something so bad?"

"The animals are hardly surviving. The air is filled with smog and the rivers are slimy and full of slop. Trees are being replanted but nearly not fast enough. Soon everything will be gone."

Taking a deep breath, it was certain what they had to do. "Alright." "But what if we fail?"

"Then the forest will be gone. One day something is going to be taken too far, we need to stop it before that happens."

"For the valley, for the forest."

"For everyone and everything around." 


End file.
